Marine drive



Feb. 6 1945. w. PJSCHMITTER MARINE DRIVE :5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July21, 1941 WaZfel'R Schmifier INV ENT OR.

ATTORNEY Feb. 6, 1945.

w. P. SCHMITTER 2,368,885

MARINE DRIVE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 21, 1941 Walter]? Schmz'iterINVENTOR.

AT TORNEY PatentedFeb. 6, 1945 OFFICE MARINE DRIVE Walter P. Schmitt'er,Wauwatosa, wissassignor to The Falk Co p ration, Milwaukee, Wis.,acorporation oi Wisconsin Application July 21, 1941, Serial No. 403,335

3 Claims. .(Cl. 115-34) This invention relates to marine drives;

An object of the" present invention is to structurally combine aplurality of driving motors and a single driven propeller shaft into acompact assembly which can be readily applied, as a unit, to a ship.

Another object is to provide a multi-motor support with a self-containedpower transmission a structurally combined into a compact unit formarine use.

Another object is to provide a compact power transmission unit fortransmitting the power derived from a plurality of motors to a singledriven shaft and selectively operable to drive said shaft in eitherdirection.

Other more specific objects and advantages will appear from thefollowing description of a marine driving unit constructed in accordancewith the present invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a marine driving unit embodying thepresent invention and shown applied to a ship.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, on a larger scale, of the powertransmission mechanism employed in the unit shown in Fig. 1.

Fi 3 is a horizontal plan view on a somewhat smaller scale of that partof the mechanism shown below the reference line 3-3 of Fig. 2 with the,upper half of the main housing removed.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the control valve shown in Fig.1.

The marine driving unit selected for illustration is shown mounted in atubular structure in constituting a well that penetrates the bottom llof the ship. One or more such wells may be provided with a separatedriving unit in each. The driving unit shown comprises a main housingl2, a tube l3 extending downwardly therefrom through the bottom of thewell III, and a conventional gear housing I carried by the lower end ofthe tube 13 and supporting a propeller. The main housing I2, tube l3,and gear housing II are connected to form a rigid unit. A propellershaft l3, extending loosely through the tube l3, drives the propeller I!in a conventional manner through bevel gears II in the housing I. v

The unit is removably anchored in the well it by suitable means, such astwo vertically spaced fluid pressure annular containers [8 and I3, whichin this instance are shown encircling and attached to the main housingl2 and tube l3, respectively, and expanded into frictional grippingengagement against the interior walls of the well ll. Thecontainers l3and I! are preferably formed of rubber reinforced with fabric or cords,as in ordinary pneumatic tire construction, and they may be deflated topermit insertion and withdrawal of the unit to and from the well.

The main housing I! provides support for a plurality of motors 20,preferably of the automotive type, and also provides a support andenclosure for a power transmission through which the total power derivedfrom the several motors is transmitted to the shaft IS.

The main housing 12 includes an intermediate section 2| having aplurality-of radially directed bearing hubs 22 (see Fig. 2) formed inthe upright cylindrical wall thereof. This section of the housing ispreferably horizontally split in a plane passing through the centers ofthe hubs 22. Each hub 23 constitutes a support for a pinion shaft 23Journalled in appropriate bearings 24 fixed in a cage 25 within the hub.Each shaft 23 carries at its inner end a bevel pinion 26 and at itsouter end a suitable coupling 21 for connection with one of the motors20 with which it is aligned.

The lower half of the intermediate housing section 21 constitutes alubricant reservoir and is closed at its bottom by the base of a hollowpedestal 28 attached thereto and extending upwardly to a point above thelubricant level. The pedestal 28 provides support for a vertical quillshaft 29 iournalled in suitable end thrust bearings 30 seated in theupper end of the pedestal. The shaft 23 is additionally radiallysupported by a set of anti-friction rollers 3| axially confined by aninner race 32 and in rolling andsliding engagement with an outer race33. The inner race 32 is fixed to the shaft 29 and the outer race 1 33is fixed to a collar 34 carried by an integral substantially conical webstructure 35 which projects upwardly from the side walls of the lowerhalf of section 2| and which is cut away to accommodate the severalpinions 2B.

The'quili shaft 29 carries a bevel ring ear 36 disposed beneath theseveral pinions 26 and meshing therewith. The fact that the antifrictionr'ollers 3| are axially movable with respectto the outer race 33 makesit possible to. effect axial adjustment of the. quillshaft 29 in amanner to effect proper meshing of the ring gear 36 with the pinions 26,this being accomplished by the insertion of suitable shims between thebase of the pedestal 28 and the bottom of the housing section 2|. Itwill'be understood of course that axial adjustment of each individualpinion 26 may also be had by the inquill shaft 29. The upper ,quillshaft is supported by a hub 40 carried by the upper half of the housingsection 2|, and for that purpose the shaft 39 is journalled in suitablethrust bearings -4l fixed in the hub 40. The upper quill shaft isadditionally radially supported by a set of anti-friction rollers 42which are in rolling and sliding engagement with a race in the collar 34in a manner similar to the rollers 3| and for asimilar purpose. Theupper quill shaft 39 and ring gear 38 may be axially adjusted intoproper meshing relation with the pinions 25 by the use of suitable shimsbetween the upper and lower halves of the housing section 2|. 7

The main housing l2 also includes upper and lower housing sections 43and 44 fixed to the intermediate section 2!. A driven shaft 45 extendsloosely through. the upper and lower'quill shafts 39 and 29. Shaft 45 isjournalled in suitable bearings 46 in the upper housing section 43 andin suitable bearings 41 in the lower housing section 44, and isconnected in driving relation with the propeller shaft I6 through anappropriate coupling 48.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the ring gears 36 and 38and their quill shafts 29 and 39 are simultaneously driven in oppositedirections by the several pinions 25. Provision is made for connectingthe shaft to one or the other of' the quill shafts selectively in orderto efiect operation of the shaft 45 and consequently the propeller l5 inone direction or the other.

In the device shown this is accomplished by the 1 use of appropriateclutches such for instance as will now be described.

Two fluid pressure clutches of like construction are shown enclosedinthe upper and lower housing sections 43 and 44, respectively. Eachincludes a drum 49 fixed to the driven shaft 45 and carrying anexpandible fluid pressure member 50 in the form of a hollow annulargland of reinforced rubber or like flexible material. Each also includesa drum 5| or 52 loosely encircling the gland 50, drum 5| being'flxed toand car- 'ried by the .upper quill shaft 39, and drum 52 der pressure isdirected through the channel 53 to the gland 50 of the lower clutch, thelatter is expanded into gripping engagement with the drum 52 and theshaft 45 is thereby caused to rotate with the quill shaft 29 in onedirection. Similarly the gland of the upper clutch may be expanded intogripping engagement with the drum 5| to effect rotation of the shaft 45with the upper quill shaft 39 in the opposite direction, by theadmission of fluid pressure through the conduits 55 and 56. It will ofcourse be understood that whenever either of the clutch glands 50 isthus inflated the other must be deflated. Provision is made forcontrolling the application of fluid pressure to the clutch glands andfor exhausting the same.

In the device shown, the mechanism for this purpose comprises a valvehaving a substantially cylindrical core 5! having one end fixed to theend of the shaft 45 for rotation therewith. .A'

longitudinal duct 58 in said end of the core 51 communicates with thechannel 53 in the shaft and terminates in a port 59 in the side of thecore. A similar .duct 69 communicates with the conduit 55 and terminatesin a port 6| axially spaced from port 59. A third duct 52 in theopposite end of the core terminates in a port 63 intermediate the ports59 and BI and communicates at all times with a suitable source of fluidpressure through rotary slip joint 54 of a well known type. The core 51is encircled by a sleeve 65 adjustable lengthwise thereof and having aninner annular channel 66 in permanent communicatlon with theintermediate port 63.

The arrangement is such that the sleeve 65 may be. shifted into oneposition to uncover the 'port 6!, so as to open the conduit to exhaust,

and to cover port 59, so as to connect the channel 53 with the fluidpressure in the duct 62; or the sleeve may be shifted into anotherposition to uncover port 59 and thereby open channel 53 to exhaust andto cover port 6| and thereby connect the conduit 55 to the pressure inthe duct 52. The sleeve 55' may be shifted and controlled throughappropriate means, such as a forked lever 61 engaged with trunnions 68on a. nonrotating ring 59 supported by an appropriate bearing 10 fixedto and encircling the sleeve.

As above noted, the main housing I2 provides support for the severalmotors 20. In this ,instance each motor 20 is mounted upon anappropriate bracket ll securely attached at one end to suitable pads I2and 13 formed on the upper and lower halves of the intermediate housingsections 2 I. The several brackets H extend radially from the housing sothat the motors supported thereby are aligned respectively with thepinion shafts 23 with which they are connected. The bottom of eachbracket H is preferably provided with a lug I4 adapted to be disposedimmediately above a pad 15 on the deck 16 of the ship to serve as alimiting stop and as a temporary support for the r unit duringinstallation and removal of the unit in and from the ship.

Various changes may be made in the embodiment of the inventionhereinabove specifically described without departing from or sacrificingthe advantages of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a reversible transmission the combination of a housing, aplurality of driving pinions therein, said pinions being disposed withtheir" sections, a quill shaft supported in said upper housing section,a second quill shaft supported in said lower housing section and alignedwith said first named quill shaft, means carried by one of said housingsections for radially positioning the adjacent ends of said quillshafts, two gears carried by said quill shafts respectively, said gearsmeshing with said pinions at opp site sides thereof, a, shaft extendingloosely through said quill shafts and journalled in said upper and lowerhousing sections,-and two clutches selectively operable to connect saidlast named shaft to one or the other of said quill shafts alternatively.

2. In a marine drive the combination of a main housing, an auxiliaryhousing depending therefrom, a propeller supported by the lower end ofsaid auxiliary hous a ring gear supported in of said auxiliary housingand driven by said ring gear for driving said propeller, means on saidmain housing for supporting a plurality of motors at a common levelabout said main housing, a. plurality of motor-driven pinions supportedin said main housing and meshing with said ring gear to drive the same,and means for attaching said main and auxiliary housings as a unit tothe hull of ship. 1

3. In a marine drive the combination of a main housing, an auxiliaryhousing depending therefrom, a propeller supported by the lower end ofsaid auxiliary housing, a shaft extending lengthwise of said auxiliaryhousing for driving said v of a ship.

propeller, two concentric ring gears in said housing, means on said mainhousing for supporting a plurality of motors at opposite sides thereof,a plurality of motor driven pinions supported in said 'main housing eachmeshing with both of said ring gears to ,drive the same in oppositedirections, means operable to selectively connect said shaft with one orthe other of said ring gears to thereby drive said shaft and propellerin either of two directions, and means for attaching said main andauxiliary housings as a unit to the hull WALTER P. SCHNIIT'I'ER.

